Short Sale Solution

What is a Shortsale?

Unforseeable hardships continue to jeopardize homeowners in this country and have pushed many to the brink of complete financial collapse. For many, Shortselling their homes will be the solution. At the Law Office of Tony Fisichella, we can negotiate with the bank to tip the scales in your favor and save you thousands.

2011 saw nearly 4 Million Foreclosures on family homes in this country. 2012 was somewhat less devastating at about 2 ½ Million, but these two, most recent years, combine for over 6 Million foreclosures. This is a staggering number. It seems in addition to the atrocities we hear about on a global scale, we have a refugee crisis right here in our own borders.

The economic downturn has created challenges that some will not completely conquer, but foreclosure is the worst of all scenarios in the current mortgage crisis and Shortsales may well be the best of all possible solutions.

Foreclosure is truly a lose/lose situation for all involved. The homeowner loses the house, and to add insult to injury, the now displaced homeowner suffers the most derogatory impact on their credit and learn the hard way how pervasive this impact can be. The mortgage servicer losses their revenue stream, the mortgage insurance company losses premiums and pays a claim, the investor loses principal and interest as well as the potential damage that can be done to the property. Ironically, despite the confounding costs to all involved, the servicers, if not properly motivated, still forestall the process. In June of this year Bloomberg News reported on “five former Bank of America Corp. employees who told a federal court they were instructed to mislead customers on the verge of losing their homes and stall their applications for loan modifications.” Amazing! Finally, the foreclosure itself has a negative impact on the neighboring properties and on the housing industry at large. There simply must be a better way. The shortsale on the other hand partially or completely solves many of these problems.

What is a Shortsale? Simply put, when a homeowner sells a home for less money that what is owed on the mortgage, that is a shortsale. It results in what is called a deficiency, which is the difference between what is owed and what it sells for. Perhaps the most severe result of a foreclosure is that if the home is foreclosed on and sold at auction, the bank can sue the already dislocated homeowner for the deficiency and for court costs and attorney’s fees. The homeowner is left without a home and still bears the burden of the unpaid portion of the mortgage…tens of thousands of dollars. Yikes!

How does the shortsale help. Simple, as part of the negotiation of a shortsale, it is the attorney’s job to work with the bank to get the sale approved and the deficiency waived. The homeowner must still give up the home, but at that point it is over. No deficiency, no foreclosure costs, no bank’s attorneys fees, no lingering court judgment and greatly diminished credit damage. The seller moves out, the buyer moves in, the real estate agent gets a commission, the bank gets a performing loan, and even the mortgage insurance company can come out ahead.

At the Law Office of Tony Fisichella, we have trained professionals helping homeowners navigate the confusing legalities and challenging negotiations of the shortsale of their homes. Most find tremendous relief when the process is complete and they are freed from a back breaking mortgage and often other debts as well.